Paritantra (Eco-Club)
Convenor: Prof Seema Gupta (Department of Chemistry)
Paritantra, the Eco Club of the college has been actively working on spreading awareness on issues related to environment protection and sustainable lifestyle among the students and society. The Eco Club organises programmes which aim at the conservation of air, water, biodiversity, energy and adoption of the practices which promote good health and sustainable development.
The activities comprise sensitizing the community about conservation and sustainability of the biotic as well as abiotic components of the environment through workshops, awareness campaigns, rallies, poster making competitions, street plays, talks, symposiums and various other drives.
Major initiatives of Paritantra include:
- Waste Segregation:
The Eco Club works to follow the practice of the complete segregation of waste into biodegradable and non-biodegradable in the college. It organizes workshops and awareness programmes on the significance of the segregation of recyclable waste and management at the source. The aim of these workshops is to sensitize the students and staff about reducing the burden on landfills, keeping the environment clean, conserving natural resources and saving energy. The volunteers of the Eco Club initiated the practice of the segregation of recyclable waste in 2017 and sold the non-biodegradable waste to authorized recycling companies in the Trash to Cash Scheme.
- Paper Recycling:
The college endorses the culture of reduce and reuse of paper strongly and has over the years, reduced the consumption of paper to a significant extent. The Eco Club volunteers collect rough copies and the practical files from the laboratories after the practical examinations and separate the used and blank pages. The used pages are sent for recycling and the blank pages are used to make notebooks. These items are given for recycling and receive stationery items in return. In 2017-18, 251 kg of paper was recycled, saving approximately 4 trees, 2816 gallons of water and 1250 kwh energy.
- Say No To Non-Biodegradable Disposables:
The Eco Club initiated a drive to stop the use of thermocol disposables in the college premises. It has successfully stopped the usage of single use plastic including plates, glasses, spoons, straws, etc. in the college campus in association with the college canteen. Recently, the college has received ‘Plastic Free College of the Year Award’ at the National Environment Convention 2018 for freeing the campus from single-use plastic.
- Say No To Crackers:
The Paritantra Society of the college raises a voice to prevent air-pollution and not to spoil the holy spirit of Diwali celebrations in a chaotic display of fire crackers. It supports the concept of cracker free Diwali and organises an anti-cracker campaign every year. The campaign makes use of various means to spread its message including rangoli making competition, rally in the surrounding areas, Nukkad Nataks, etc.
- Pad-Yatra:
The students march, holding banners, denouncing the use of crackers from the college campus to neighbouring residential areas, market area and metro-station to educate children and residents about the ill effects of burning crackers. They perform Nukkad Nataks at various places including Govindpuri Metro Station.
- Health Sensitization Workshop:
Paritantra, in association with The Centre for Environmental Health, Public Health Foundation of India (a partnership between PHFI and the Tata Institute of Social Sciences), with support from the Wellcome Trust, U.K. and DBT India Alliance conducted an environmental health sensitization workshop for the undergraduate students of the college to create awareness towards addressing the health threats posed by various environmental exposures. At the workshop, researchers had discussions with the students on various environment related health issues, such as climate change, e-waste, pesticides, air pollution, water pollution through presentations, lectures and discussions. Through the workshop, researchers urged the students to educate themselves on public health issues, spread awareness and become champions of environmental health. The students also proposed various creative and innovative ways to engage with the society about environmental health
World Environment Day Celebration
Paritantra celebrates World Environment Day every year on 5th June, wherein it urges all the members of the ANDC family to share stories/photographs/videos on the portal: 'ANDC with Nature'.
Paritantra also runs an awareness campaign for water conservation.
Recognitions:
- Winner, Exhibition on sustainable development, 9th CMS VATAVARAN, Environment and Wildlife International Film Festival and Forum (2017).
- World Ecology, Environment, and Development (WEED) Award 2017 (International Association of educators for World Peace)
- Plastic Free College of the Year Award 2018 (National Environment Convention 2018)
